How Unknown Politician Defeated Serving Senator In PDP C’river Primaries

A new entrant to the
Senate race on Peoples
Democratic Party
platform, Gershom
Bassey, on Tuesday defeated
incumbent senator, Bassey Otu, to
pick the party's ticket for Cross
River South Senatorial District.

Mr. Bassey, who is Chairman, Cross
River Water Board, defeated Mr. Otu
at the rescheduled senate primary
in the district.
He polled 135 against Otu's 99
votes while Ekpo Okon, a former
State Chairman of the party, got 76
votes.
The primary was rescheduled from
December 7 to 9, by John Okon, PDP
Chairman in the state, due to
rowdiness and security concerns at
the venue.

Announcing the result in Calabar,
Alimi Abdulrazaq, Chairman of the
electoral panel, described the
process as peaceful and
transparent.
"Following the announcement of
this result, I hereby declare
Gershom Bassey duly elected for
Cross River Southern Senatorial
District election in 2015", he said.

In his reaction, Mr. Otu said: "I will
not comment on the outcome of the
election. You will hear from me
later".
Also reacting to the outcome, Mr.
Okon said the contest was free and
fair, adding that it was the beauty of
democracy.
NAN reports that the winner of the
primary was not at the venue at the
time the results were announced.
Earlier, the Deputy Governor of
Cross River, Efiok Cobham, said the
congress of December 7 was
rescheduled to Dec. 9 due to some
challenges.

Mr. Cobham urged the delegates to
conduct themselves in a peaceful
manner during and after voting.
The election was conducted under
tight security as men of the civil
defence corps and the Nigeria Police
provided security during the
election. (NAN)

Posted By David Aniemeka